Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-01-20
PAPER BY j. F. YOUNG, ST. GLARS
VILE.

[PAPER BY ]. F. YOUNG, ST. GLARS
| VILE.
| The horse undoubtedly stands at the
| head of the brute creation. In the ani>
mil kingdom he has but one superior
| He is the no6leSt OF our domestic ami.
mals-the literature of every age, and
the pages of history, both sacred aud
prOfane, are adorned with beautiful
tributes to him. From the remotest an
tiquity he has been acknowledged to
rank next to man ia intelligence, 10 cour-
age, and IN perseverance,, and during the
upward progress of the human race in
civilization and enlightenment, the
horse has retained bis relative position
To the human race. The horse is not
only the most useful of all our domestic
animals, but to the agrieulturist of the
day, he is indispensable. The maltipli.
city OF machinery on the farm has great
ly Increased the demand for horse pOw-
er on the farm, and it has greatly raised
the standard of the farm horse. The
work of the farm that used TO be per-
formed by human muscle is now per-
formed by horse power. We raise thou
sands of millions of bushels Of grain ia
this country annually, and the blowing,
the planting, the cultivating and the
harvesting, are all done by horse power.
The farmer is promoted to business
manager, and the horse occupies the
place the farmer occupied half century
ago. The OK and the mule are DO long-
er fit substitutes for the horse on the
farm; we need speedier and more skill
ssxul work than either of them can per-
form therefore the horse, the noble an
imal of all work, has largely superseded
them both.
The horse has the strength to draw
the plow. he has the dexterity and skill
to properly run grain drill or a twine
binder, and he has speed and pride to
draw carriage in good style, and the
same horse will do it all, if we get the
right horse. Horses have been bred and
reared and trained for specialties
hence we have great variety of horses.
No man is at a loss to find a horse ex
actly suited to his purposes and require
ments; the sportsman and professional
gambler has his hot. blooded and excita-
ble race horse; the business man or gen.
tleman of leisure, has his housekeeping,
fine gait6d roadster and saddle horse
! The teamster has his ponderOus and ma
jestic, slow, but sure draft horse. All of
these are useful and ornamental in their
place, and If he is not iD his place the
horse is not TO blame, but the man that
places him. The farmer has no business
with any of these-there is none of them
suited TO the farmers purposes. The
farmer'S-hor5e duties are many, aud of
great variety. The farmer cannot af
ford to keep different horses for differ
ent purposes besides, he does not need
great speed nor very heavy draft; his
duties are not Oh the extreme in either
direction; he needs good-slzed, we'll
formed, sensible horse, that meets the
good qualities and eliminates the bad of
all the others. BY a good sized horse i
mean one that weighs about 1900 or
1900 pounds, with heavy bone, strong
muscle, rather tall and rangy, is my
ideal of an all-purpose horse. Have we
got such horse? If we have not an
established and distinct breed of this
character. we at least have good many
individual specimens, the result of vari-
riOus crosses; but they are not well
enough established to reproduce them>
selves. 1t is my opinion that good all+
purposes are numerous on our farms.
but poor, weak, awkward, clumsy, indif-
ferent horses are more Dut1erOus. Much
of this, however, is the result of bad
treatment and care of the horse. Ii is a
shame that we should have 50 many
poor horses on the farm when we con
slider the important part they have to
peform. The farmer should keep moth
ing but sound, able-bodied, well-trained
horses. 1t is genuine pleasure to work
good, strong. willing and pleasant dis.
positloDed team of horses, while it is
tribulation and vexation of spirit to
work with poor team. We can all
have good horses if we breed right and
train right: The Thoroughbred, the
Morgan, the Cleveland Bay the Handle
tonian, the Clydesdale, the Percheron
Norusn, the French Canadian aud the
English Draft horse, give US wide
range to choose from, and II none of
them suit our purposes, we can, by in
telligent crossing among them, evolve
the horse we are after. The farmer, as
d rule. should breed and raise aud train
his own horses es--then he can choose and
retain for his own use the best individu
al animals. In the hrst place, never
breed from horse that will not work.
The disposition and mental qualities are
hereditary just as surely as the physical
organism is, always showing an idle and
pampered horse. Idleness is the parent
of vice and wickedness In the human
race. and idleu. engenders vicious and
dangerous hab..- \ the equine race. Be-
sides, we have no room for drones on
the farm. Confinement and pamperiDg
destroys the constitutional vigor of the
horse, and makes him fretful and imps-